Breaking Out of Minnesota
With the recount now complete, absentee ballots have pushed Franken to a 225 vote lead over Norm Coleman, making Franken's eventual victory now appear all but certain.
--Josh Marshall
Everyone Turns on Bush
From Iyad Allawi, courtesy of Reuters ...
Former U.S.-installed Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has denounced the policies of President George W. Bush as an "utter failure" that gave rise to the sectarian venom that ravaged his country.In an interview published on Saturday in the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat, Allawi found fault with American management of Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 as well as the government of present Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
...
"Yes, Bush's policies failed utterly," said Allawi, describing the U.S. administration that once backed him. "Utter failure. Failure of U.S. domestic and foreign policy, including fighting terrorism and economic policy."
"His insistence on names like 'democracy' and 'open elections', without giving attention to political stability, was a big mistake. It cast shadows on Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Egypt, and I believe this will be remembered in history as President Bush's policy," he said.
As I said above, I certainly won't disagree. But let's not forget that Allawi connived with Bush for some time when Bush had power. In addition to being more or less accurate, Allawi's judgment is a telling sign of what it means to have power -- both in the deep sense and in the more immediate sense of controlling violence -- and what it means to lose it. President Bush had none of the power rooted in respect, judgment and persuasion. He won two elections and he controlled an army. Now he has nothing.
--Josh Marshall
Election Central Saturday Roundup
About 950 more ballots will be counted today (and possibly tomorrow) in the Minnesota Senate race, as Norm Coleman's six-year term officially expires. That and other political news in today's Election Central Saturday Roundup.
--Eric Kleefeld
An International Force in Gaza?
Interesting article by McClatchy's Warren Strobel on the possibility of an international force in Gaza as the basis of a new ceasefire. Part of the equation might be having Fatah reassume control not over Gaza itself but over the border crossings into Gaza.
--Josh Marshall
Not Getting This One
Political self-interest being what it is, I'm not really sure what the calculus was by which the Franken and Coleman campaigns came to agreement on these absentee ballots.
--Josh Marshall
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--Ben Craw
Many More Madoffs?
From Bloomberg ...
U.S. regulators working to untangle Bernard Madoff's alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme are probing other money managers suspected of using similar tactics, two people with knowledge of the inquiries said.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is pursuing at least one case in which investors may have been cheated out of as much as $1 billion, according to one person, who declined to name the manager and asked not to be identified because the probe isn't public.
--Josh Marshall
PIMCO All Mum on Fed Gig
Last Fall PIMCO chief Bill Gross was on the airwaves 
raising the alarm bell about how the backlog of toxic mortgage-backed securities were on the brink of crushing the US economy. And he certainly had some unique insight into the problem since over 60% of his firm's $830 billion in holdings were made up of those mortgage-backed securities. At the time, Gross was on the airwaves (on CNBC in particular) pledging that just out of a sense of patriotic duty he'd be willing to have his firm manage the government bail-out (i.e., government purchase of the crap CDOs) for free. Just for the sake of patriotism.
So now that his firm is one of the four that got a contract to run the program from the Fed, is he following through on the pledge? Doesn't seem like it. So far we've gotten through to three of the four firms, each of which has declined to comment on the fees the four companies are making for administering the program. PIMCO is the only one that hasn't responded at all. So it's seeming like the patriotic do-it-for-free plan hasn't panned out.
--Josh Marshall
Federal Reserve TARP Treasury Securities Mortgage Bernanke
As Josh mentioned earlier in the week, the Fed has brought in -- with next to no transparency -- four firms to dispose of the $500 billion of toxic mortgage-backed securities the Fed has purchased as part of one of its bailout programs (separate and apart from the Treasury Department's TARP program).
So how much are these guys making under their contracts with the Fed? We called around and all of them declined to say.
We're still waiting to hear back from the Fed itself.
--David Kurtz
Deep Thought
Republicans now accusing Obama of palling around with Democrats.
--Josh Marshall
Now Among the Honored Departed
It's always a bittersweet moment. One of our vets, who did amazing work for us over more than two years, Greg Sargent, is moving on. Here's Greg's farewell post. He'll be missed and we were honored to have him.
--Josh Marshall
Iraq Maliki Green Zone Transfer U.S. Troops Ceremony
From the Post:
The handover of the Green Zone from U.S. to Iraqi control Thursday presented such a powerful symbol of the waning American presence in Iraq that it would have been nearly impossible for both sides not to mark it with a formal ceremony.They did, but the ceremony wasn't much. A podium was set up in the middle of a dirty street. Five small balloons and some tinsel decorated a seating area. The American ambassador and the top commander of U.S. troops didn't show up. Neither did Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Maliki instead attended an unannounced event where he watched what might have been one of the most stirring signs of the new Iraq: the raising of the Iraqi flag over what just a day earlier had been the U.S. Embassy. The decision to keep reporters away from this ceremony hinted at the unease and uncertainty both sides feel about the transition.
Almost goes without saying (but it shouldn't) that the transfer is largely a formality and U.S. troops are still providing security in and around the Green Zone.
--David Kurtz
DC Still a Republican Town
Like many others, I've been saying this for years. So I'm surprised to be surprised. But the journalistic establishment in Washington, whether it's the Post or the Politico or much of the rest of the journalistic apparatus in the city, is essentially Republican in character -- not necessarily in terms of individual voting habits, though you'd be surprised, but in fundamental outlook about whose opinions matter and how government functions, which is what really counts. And you can see that resurfacing with increasing clarity just in that last week.
--Josh Marshall
That's Quite a Premise
I was hoping it wouldn't be too long before the real nonsense kicked in. And it seems my prayers have been answered. According to this story in today's Post, some right-wingers think some of Obama's advisors are too liberal. Imagine that ...
Obama's Team Rankles the RightTo Some Conservatives, Advisers Are Alarmingly Liberal
To some staunch conservatives watching President Bush relinquish the reins of power to President-elect Barack Obama, a few too many ardent liberals are now crashing the gates.
Some well-known Democratic activists are advising Obama on how to steer federal agencies, including a few whom conservative Republicans fought hard to keep out of power in the Clinton administration. They include Roberta Achtenberg, a gay activist whose confirmation as an assistant housing secretary was famously held up by then-Sen. Jesse Helms (N.C.), and Bill Lann Lee, who was hotly opposed by foes of affirmative action and temporarily blocked from the government's top civil rights job.
Conservatives fear that some of these Obama transition advisers are too far left on the political spectrum and are a sign of radical policies to come.
--Josh Marshall
Obama Congress Stimulus Package Meeting Monday
Obama reportedly to meet with Congressional leaders on the stimulus package after he arrives in Washington on Monday. That and the day's other political and transition news in the TPM Election Central Morning Roundup.
--David Kurtz
Is Obama's Stimulus Plan Too Small?
Noam Scheiber asks whether, in an effort to attract substantial Republican support, Obama is aiming for too low a dollar amount ($675-$775 billion over 24 months) in his upcoming fiscal stimulus package.
I'm torn on this. As Noam points out, that looks to be a starting point at the low end of what most economists think is necessary, leaving treacherously little safe room to negotiate down. And everything about our recent history and current predicament tells me we have to be bold and aggressive, on policy and politics. But I've always had a weakness for One Nation politics; so I'm not willing to discount the possibility that Obama reshuffle the deck politically, operate under a different calculus.
--Josh Marshall
TPMtv 2nd Annual Golden Duke Awards scandal corruption sleazy campaign ad election fib chutzpah local sex carnality general interest dole palin blagojevich edwards kilpatrick president george bush award dukes judges nominees category kiel ackerman
The muck has been raked. The nominations are in. The judges have made their final decisions. Tonight, New Year's Eve, in our year ending episode of TPMtv, we bring you the winner's of this year's Golden Duke Awards ...
Full-size video at TPMtv.com.
To read about who won, how each judge voted and their exclusive Golden Dukes commentary and insights, see the results page here.
--Josh Marshall
New career in public relations not a good option for Alberto Gonzales either
New career in public relations not a good option for Alberto Gonzales.
--Josh Marshall
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--Ben Craw
No Churchill After All?
From the AP ...
Lawrence Wilkerson, top aide and later chief of staff to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, said that as a new president, Bush was like Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee whom critics said lacked knowledge about foreign affairs. When Bush first came into office, he was surrounded by experienced advisers like Vice President Dick Cheney and Powell, who Wilkerson said ended up playing damage control for the president."It allowed everybody to believe that this Sarah Palin-like president -- because, let's face it, that's what he was -- was going to be protected by this national-security elite, tested in the cauldrons of fire," Wilkerson said, adding that he considered Cheney probably the "most astute, bureaucratic entrepreneur" he'd ever met.
"He became vice president well before George Bush picked him," Wilkerson said of Cheney. "And he began to manipulate things from that point on, knowing that he was going to be able to convince this guy to pick him, knowing that he was then going to be able to wade into the vacuums that existed around George Bush -- personality vacuum, character vacuum, details vacuum, experience vacuum."
--Josh Marshall
Norm Coleman Gets Desperate in Attempt to Hold Senate Seat
Norm Coleman's chances of winning the Minnesota senate race are approaching nil. But he does have a plan to keep Al Franken from getting sworn in for weeks or months.
--Josh Marshall
Will Blagojevich Destroy the Dems
Can the Democratic party really withstand the shame, ignominy, distraction and general horror of Rod Blagojevich's nonsense? Or should they just hand things back to the Republicans now and get it over with?
--Josh Marshall
Hentoff Let Go from the Voice
I don't have much of a sense of the internal developments at the Village Voice. And a lot of Hentoff's recent writing hasn't been my taste. But it's a landmark development regardless. And his writing about Dylan keeps him among the elect regardless.
--Josh Marshall
The Feds New Plan To Buy Toxic Assets
A short while back the Fed announced a new program to buy up to $600 billion worth of mortgage backed securities. Remember, this was what the TARP was originally supposed to do. But then Paulson decided to invest money directly into the banks to recapitalize them. And then the Fed decided on its own to do basically the same thing on its own. They've already bought up $100 billion worth and they've now hired BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, PIMCO and Wellington Management Company to purchase and manage $500 billion more worth of the stuff.
Why did these four companies get the contract? That's none of your business. The Fed just decided. Says the Fed, "The selection criteria were based on the institution's operational capacity, size, overall experience in the MBS (mortgage-backed securities) market and a competitive fee structure." In other words, these guys are the ones who know how to do it. But no public process, criteria or anything else.
Their purported knowledge, which I'm sure is true in a sense of technical experience, is somewhat belied by the fact that these were the firms that helped build up the mess in the first place.
And, think you get a decent commission for managing half a trillion dollars of assets? Yeah. Me too.
--Josh Marshall
Heady Moments
I'm remembering that moment when Alberto Gonzales was humming 'I Shall Be Released' while reviewing the torture memo with John Yoo.
--Josh Marshall
Bobby Rush: We Have Three Hispanic Senators, Two Asians, 11 Women, But No African-Americans
Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) went on Larry King last night and reiterated that the fate of African-Americans and race relations in America is dependent on the appointment of the heretofore unknown Roland Burris to the U.S. Senate. That and the day's other political news in the TPM Election Central Morning Roundup.
Late Update: A snippet of Rush:
--David Kurtz
Alberto Gonzales Defends Himself Against Critics on Terror and Torture
Alberto Gonzales: "I consider myself a casualty, one of the many casualties of the war on terror."
Late Update: Read the whole piece. Gonzales has built a mental monument to himself that is just as narcissistic as Roland Burris' more tangible marble edifice.
--David Kurtz
Blagojevich's Roland Burris Built Cemetery Monument for Himself
Senator-designate Roland Burris already has a lavish -- and expensive! -- cemetery plot/temple constructed for him and his wife under the seal of the state of Illinois listing his many marvelous accomplishments.
--David Kurtz
Mountebank in Winter
To think how close we came to hitching our wagon to this charlatan ... The Times takes a look at Mikheil Saakashvili, President of Georgia, who isn't so popular even at home these days.
--Josh Marshall
TPMtv: The TPM Transition Unfolds
It's going to be a new political world starting next month. And TPM is hiring two new reporter-bloggers to report on location, everyday from Washington, DC to bring you the whole story. We're going to bring to the task all the innovation, integrity and creativity we've become known for in our other projects. And in today's episode of TPMtv we give you an overview of what we have in store and ask for your advice, pointers, suggestions and more on how to best do the job ..
Full-size video at TPMtv.com.
--Josh Marshall
Rubber Necking
Roland Burris is on MSNBC. I thought Blagojevich was going to be the winner today on cringe-osity. But I think Burris may be lapping Blago.
Whatever other quid pro quos may have been made, I think it's clear Blagojevich received a commitment from Burris that if Blago appointed him he would leave his dignity at the door.
Late Update: Here's the vid:
--Josh Marshall
Burris Under Obama's Saddle
Obama calls Blago's decision to go ahead and appoint his successor "extremely disappointing."
--David Kurtz
"Not One Iota Of Taint!"
The tour de force Blago, Burris, Rush presser in its entirety:
--David Kurtz
Seems Like Old Times
Radical Iranian students storm and briefly occupy British Embassy residential compound in Tehran.
--Josh Marshall
Rosenkranz and the Other Guy
I'm starting to think that Blagojevich is the comedic side character Shakespeare created for occasional diversions in the five act play we're currently living in.
--Josh Marshall
Blago and Circuses
Another memorable press conference in Chicago. Rod Blagojevich announced he was appointing a beaming Roland Burris to Obama's vacant Senate seat, and Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) made a cameo appearance heavily laced with references to race.
Video soon.
--David Kurtz
Blago Stopped Cold?
Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White is apparently going to shut down Blago's appointment gambit before it even gets to the senate.
--Josh Marshall
Blago Appointment "Will Not Stand"
Senate Dems are reiterating that they will not seat anyone appointed by Rod Blagojevich to fill Obama's Senate seat:
It is truly regrettable that despite requests from all 50 Democratic Senators and public officials throughout Illinois, Gov. Blagojevich would take the imprudent step of appointing someone to the United States Senate who would serve under a shadow and be plagued by questions of impropriety. We say this without prejudice toward Roland Burris's ability, and we respect his years of public service. But this is not about Mr. Burris; it is about the integrity of a governor accused of attempting to sell this United States Senate seat. Under these circumstances, anyone appointed by Gov. Blagojevich cannot be an effective representative of the people of Illinois and, as we have said, will not be seated by the Democratic Caucus.
--David Kurtz
Latest Madoff Victim: You
There's not much hope for people who lost their shirts on the Madoff scam. But you'll be happy to hear that some of them will recoup losses courtesy of your tax dollars.
I'd heard recently that among its other choice decisions, AIG (now a ward of the federal government) had managed to offer insurance for some of Benard Madoff's fraudulent investments. The dollar amounts aren't that high. So far AIG has received 85 claims for Madoff losses. And the individual policies only cover up to $100,000, though I'm told the policies were sometimes layered together in ways that could make the effective insurance limits much higher. What's more, a private insurance company can insure anything they want, be as stupid as they want to be.
But the fact that some of your tax dollars are going to go to people who lost money to Madoff does get us back to the premise of the government's take over of AIG, and to be specific, the highly questionable premise that AIG isn't simply bankrupt.
Remember, the idea of taking over AIG was that it had so much systemic exposure through the world of finance (through CDOs, credit default swaps, etc.) that letting it go under would just be too damaging to the macro-economy. In principle, that makes sense to me. But presumably there's no systemic damage involved in not paying out these Madoff claims. A lot of the hundred-fifty-plus billion dollars of US government money has simply been passed through to other banks like Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, UBS, Deutsche Bank, etc.
As Carlos Mendez told the Wall Street Journal recently, "It's like a home run for some of the banks. They bought insurance from a company that ran into trouble and still managed to get all, or most, of their money back."
Will Goldman fail without the few more billion the government gave the bank through AIG? I doubt it. Will the taxpayer be made whole for covering the losses Goldman incurred by dealing with AIG? Of course not.
--Josh Marshall
Maybe The Senate Has No Choice?
I said below that the Senate had full power to seat or not to seat any Blago appointee. And the senate does have extensive power to judge elections and qualifications. But Jeff Greenfield points out that the senate may not actually have that power with regards to an appointment ...
Hey, Josh--re the Senate's power.I think you're wrong about saying the Senate has full power not to seat the Gov's pick. In Powell vs McCormick, a 1969 case involving Adam Clayton Powell, the Supreme Court said, 7-2, that a house of Congress does NOT have such power-they can judge "qualifications" in the Constitutional sense (age, citizenship, etc). And they can judge elections, but say nothing about appointments. (Nate Silver did a great piece on this awhile back).
They can probably EXPEL a member as they see fit--though the Court's decision does not make that clear---but on what grounds? Just because they don't like the guy who picked him?
PS--just know these are tentative notions...I'm sure all sorts of folks are trying to tease out this one...(don't know if every Senate official and/or academic is on vacation this week)
--Josh Marshall
Blago's New Gambit
We've just gotten word that Gov. Blagojevich has decided to appoint Roland Burris to Obama's senate seat.
I've heard the name before. But I don't know much more than that. So we're trying to get a better read on his background and just who he is. But on the face of it, he's a respected black politician from Illinois, (a former state AG (1991-1995)), who's a generation older than Obama. He's 71.
The idea has been that the senate simply wouldn't seat anyone appointed by Blagojevich, as is their right. The senate has total authority over who it chooses to seat in the body. But assuming Burris is respected and there's no apparent crooked bargain behind the appointment, I think the senate may be hard pressed not to seat him, notwithstanding all that's happened.
One question David poses, is why, if Burris is clean, he would accept an appointment from such a tainted governor. Not sure I have a good answer to that one.
As TPM Reader RP puts it, this guy won't go down quietly.
Late Update: TPM Reader PD chimes in on Burris ...
My home state's culture of political corruption is well documented. Roland Burris managed to build a career in politics in this state without falling into that muck. He is, to the best of everyone's knowledge, squeaky clean, and he's highly respected. He's 71 years old, so I wonder if he intends to serve as a caretaker. But he's an honorable guy, well liked by people across the state in both parties. It's a stroke of brilliance by Blagojevich in my opinion.
--Josh Marshall
Zbig Smacks Down Mornin' Joe
Zbig to Joe: "You have a such stunningly superficial knowledge of what went on it's almost embarrassing to listen to you."
--David Kurtz
Heil Saltsman!
I see the GOP's devious plan to become the party of southern whites over the age of 50 continues apace.
Wholly unable to confirm this, but I'm told the talk is now that Mike Duncan may have to perform in black face at the upcoming RNC meeting to remain a credible candidate for the job.
--Josh Marshall
Election Central Morning Roundup
Larry Wilkerson recalls Bush as a "Sarah Palin-like president." That and the day's other political news in the TPM Election Central Morning Roundup.
--David Kurtz
No Title Can Do It Justice
Treasury to lend up to a billion to GM buy to buy a bigger stake in its own financing subsidiary GMAC, which has also become a bank holding company to qualify for $5 billion in TARP funds from Treasury.
--Josh Marshall
The Long Goodbye
I think I have this right. The Republican party has decided on the racial joke issue as the vehicle to reintroduce themselves to the American people after the 2008 blow out.
Am I missing something?
--Josh Marshall
Show Me the Money
If Bernie Madoff swindled $50 billion, where'd the money actually go? We walk you through the possibilities.
--Josh Marshall
The Height of Folly
TPM Reader BG chimes in ...
I basically agree with everything that you've written. I believe that the expansion of settlements in the West Bank is and has been a major problem in resolving the issue. It must be resolved, and the resolution is for most of the settlements to be dismantled and their inhabitants relocated back to within the Green Line. As a volunteer for Rabbis for Human Rights in 2000, I witnessed first hand the moral decay represented by the settlements and their most radical inhabitants.But, I must note that it was not the issue of settlements that was the principal problem in causing the collapse of the Camp David negotiations in 2000. Indeed, the Barak government was willing to give up most of the settlements (with the exception of Ariel, Maale Adumim and Gush Etzion), and relocate their inhabitants. Israel also accepted Clinton's proposal of December 2000 which would have seen Israel ceding close to 96% of the West Bank.
Rather, the Camp David negotiates collapsed upon issues concerning sovereignty in Jerusalem and Palestinian Right of Return. So, while the settlements are and were a major issue, and I believe a continuing shame for Israel on a number of levels (which I need not get into here), this was one of the issues where the parties were in the closest agreement, and which the Barak government was willing to make far reaching concessions.
What happened in the 2000 Camp David negotiations is a very controversial question. But I don't think we need to get into all the nitty gritty of it. Because you still have the key issue, which is this: at some point you'll need to have have a two state solution. Barak may have agreed to dismantle most of the settlements, though it's a bit more complicated than that. But that doesn't necessarily mean he would have been able to deliver on that commitment politically. However that may be, at some point you need to have a two state solution. That means wrapping up the settlements. And the more you let them grow, the more and more difficult it will become to uproot them because the entire Israeli political system will become more and more hostage to the radicalism and, as BG puts it, the moral decay of the settlements.
Ben Gurion, who was no slouch in his Zionism, saw this all very clearly in the aftermath of the Six Day War. Trying to settle and absorb the West Bank was the height of folly. Unfortunately he was old and retired. And many people who should have known better got swept up in the logic of settlement.
--Josh Marshall
Gaza and Settlements
A longtime reader wrote in in response to my post below saying that I was off base since Hamas doesn't recognize even the concept of the settlements -- in the sense of distinguishing between towns in Israel proper, the pre-1967 borders and those in the West Bank. But that misunderstands my point. I don't think Hamas makes that distinction. But I don't think that's the point. I thought I'd print what I wrote him in response.
I'm actually not sure how much we're disagreeing. In many ways I agree that Gaza and the West Bank have become two separate issues -- not just in terms of negotiating strategy but in terms of final outcomes. But Israel has a profound strategic interest in a viable settlement with the West Bank Palestinians. Come up with some settlement of that issue and the Gaza issue because much, much less of a big deal. But no settlement of the West Bank issue is possible with continued expansion of settlements. Indeed, I would say no settlement is possible without uprooting almost all the current West Bank settlements, with the possible exception of some in the girdle around Jerusalem. That's the core issue. And what's happening right now in Gaza does not change any of that. Of course, Hamas makes no distinction of the Green Line. That's a given. But I don't think that's the point. Israel desperately needs the West Bank issue settled. Everything that makes that more difficult endangers the state.
--Josh Marshall
More on Criminal Justice Reform
From TPM Reader MK:
Was pleased to see your quick post about Webb and criminal justice reform. Webb does appear to be the new Democratic champion of these issues. I heard him speak at the National Press Club earlier this month. While he's clearly just learning the field, he's also courageous on some of the most fundamental points of citizenship and, of course, color. While he's hung up on locking away 'the right people' -- without entirely specifying who they might be -- he's willing to think of the problems in ways that can be solved with 'alternatives to enforcement.' That's a sea-change from the ever-increasingly punitive rhetoric and practice Americans, mostly young Americans, have been subjected to for nearly forty years.Anyway, he will, thankfully, replace Joe Biden as the standard bearer among forward-thinking Democrats on this issue.
Of course, over the years Democrats have been horrendous on issues of punishment, crime, incarceration, and all the mechanisms we have to try to prevent these things. Have they been as bad as Republicans? No. Have they been bankrupt and awful? Unequivocally. Biden, Schumer, Cuomo, most of all President Clinton, they have been abominable. You know this, of course. But I'm writing to say thanks for raising this issue on the blog. Democratic blogs have, generally, been as silent on this issue as the Democrat leadership has been negligent and nasty.
Anyway, here's to hoping Obama and the Democrats show the courage to take on the great human problems of our time in 2009.
--David Kurtz
Heart of the Issue
As the Israeli assault on Gaza unfolds, and we receive new information about the death toll and new predictions about the prospects for any peace settlement, I wanted to refocus back on the essential issue that is still with us and will continue to be with us after this blow up fades into memory like the Second Lebanon War, Jenin, and the terrorist attacks and back and forths of the 1990s. Since the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process began going on twenty years ago, Israeli settlements in the West Bank have continued to expand every year. The settler population was 130,000 in 1995 and had grown to 270,000 by 2007 -- through a mix of natural increase and immigration. The numbers have continued to increase right through the Olmert government, which I think really wanted to get about the business of uprooting settlements and solving the core issues. But he wasn't willing or able to do it. Whatever you can say about Palestinian terror attacks or missiles into Southern Israel and whatever you can say Israeli incursions and aerial attacks, the situation is insoluble without dismantling those settlements. And that is why Hamas, as much as it thrives on war and confrontation, is a distraction -- for some an intentional one, for others unintentional -- from this core point. That's why I think Bernard Avishai is right in his post from last week. The settler issue is intractable without an outside hand.
--Josh Marshall
TPMtv: Sunday Show Roundup: Meanwhile, Back in Gaza...
A new president is coming into the White House but the story remains the same in the Middle East as a new round of violence has erupted in Israel and the Gaza Strip ...
Full-size video at TPMtv.com.
--Ben Craw
Election Central Morning Roundup
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) wants the Senate to go ahead and seat the winner of the Coleman-Franken recount (i.e., Franken) even if there's a formal election contest. That and the day's other political news in the TPM Election Central Morning Roundup.
--David Kurtz
More Good News for the Rat
Dan Slater, at the WSJ law blog, also thinks Toussie has a good case for holding on to his pardon. And he also flags some more strong, albeit circumstantial, evidence that Toussie was actually personally notified of his pardon.
--Josh Marshall
Election Central Sunday Roundup
In a big change for this country, incoming White House press secretary Robert Gibbs says that Barack Obama "wants and expects" disagreements within his administration. That and other political news in today's Election Central Sunday Roundup.
--Eric Kleefeld
